The breadth, energy, and diversity of American life deserves to be celebrated and should encourage Americans to appreciate their country, even when there are serious problems to be addressed. Both the vibrancy and diversity of American life, together with its issues, are at the forefront in this short photographic history, "African Americans in Los Angeles" (2010). The book is part of the Images of America Series of local American histories that has taught me a great deal about American community life. Karin Stanford, Ph.D. and the Institute for Arts and Media, California State University, Northridge, wrote this book which makes great use of photographs from the Institute's archives. Stanford is an associate professor of political science in the Pan African Studies department of Cal. State at Northridge. A photograph and annotation in the book (p. 74) describe the establishment of the Pan African Studies department in 1969 following a student protest.
Given its short scope, the book offers an overview of the Los Angeles African American community in depth and breadth. The community's history is discussed through time beginning with the years under Spanish control, continuing through California's statehood and early migration from the South, through the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Movement and into the present. The book shows change and growth, both in the photographs and in Stanford's accompanying text. Along the way, the reader meets people including Bridger "Biddy" Mason, a slave from Mississippi, who obtained her freedom when she filed a lawsuit in California in 1856. Biddy Mason became a wealthy entrepreneur in Los Angeles and helped to found the African American Methodist Church.
The book shows the breadth of the community over time in its many photographs and discussions of its members. Stanford shows the accomplishments of Los Angeles African Americans in all walks of life. These include government, law and medicine, religion, political activism, education, music and art, sports, business, and more. The book describes people including, for example, Tom Bradley, the city's first African American mayor, Ralph Bunche, Johnnie Cochran, the early R&B group the Flares, and many more people of great accomplishment. But equally important, the book also shows many individual private people living their lives in the context of family, friends, and careers. For example, Stanford shows a four-year old girl bedecked in cap and gown as she graduates in 1971 from Project Head Start. The same page (87) also shows two young men relaxing in their home about to enjoy an evening with family. There are photos of youngsters at birthday parties in 1954, the year of the Brown decision, of women baking donuts in 1957 in a bakery, and of a milkman delivering milk from his truck, among many other scenes of daily life.
Stanford discusses the difficult struggle of Los Angeles African Americans to overcome discrimination. Many of the photographs show injustice from early years and the protests which arose against it. The book discusses activist groups such as the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers. It focuses on law enforcement issues involving the LAPD and its targeting of African American men. There are photographs and texts about the 1965 Watts riots and the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of three policemen in the death of Rodney King. Several other incidents of violence are also described. Following the Watts riots, the middle class community and its businesses on Central Avenue moved away from the traditional African American part of the city, thus creating further economic difficulties and increasing the presence of gangs and crime. Most of the book focuses on the Central Avenue community but there are also many photographs of the Leimert Park area, which is the subject of its own book in the Images of America series.
The overall tone of the book remains one of optimism and hope as African Americans in Los Angeles work towards the future. I appreciated the opportunity to join Professor Stanford in this brief photographic tour of the community through time. The book helped me think about both the large visions of American life and the sometimes halting realizations of these visions in a particular place. For those moved to do further reading on the basis of this book, a short bibliography would have been a welcome addition.
